Samuel Sproule is not one to shy away from a challenge. His journey—from atheist to soldier to Christendom graduate to FOCUS missionary—has been one of unexpected moments, determination, and profound grace.
Sproule grew up in a non-religious family in California. As a teenager, he began questioning moral codes. He had an idea of what virtue was and considered his father an admirable example of what virtue meant. However, Sproule kept wondering what else there was to virtue, to morality, and to life. He listened to an inner voice that asked where it could all lead.
“I was always looking,” Sproule says. “I was really interested in the big questions, like death, and life, and how you live life and all these things.”
These questions about morality grew stronger, and he felt increasingly compelled to search for answers.
“I was like, there’s answers in life. Truth exists,” Sproule says. “I think the Holy Spirit was guiding me.”
Sproule with his mother.
This curiosity led Sproule, in the quarantined summer of 2020, to begin a committed search for answers. Religion claimed to know what life and morality meant, so that is where he would look. With only a computer and a persistent desire to know more, Sproule began researching religions. He rigorously compared, cross-referenced, and analyzed religions of all kinds. As he had no prior knowledge of Christianity or any other religion, he researched them all. He told no one about his project and spent a long, determined summer wading through veritable tidal waves of online sources.
Eventually, Sproule stumbled upon a verse that would change his life, James 1:12: “Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.”
He researched the source of this quotation and was shocked to learn it was a Bible verse. Previously, Sproule hadn’t thought that there was much to the Bible, but this verse made him think again.
Sproule began to look into the Bible, starting with the Epistles and eventually the whole New Testament. He concluded that the Bible was valuable as a source of wisdom and was surprised to discover that many of his own conclusions of morality were affirmed in its pages. A whole book of wisdom, history, and knowledge—persisting through millennia—opened new worlds of research for him.
This story comes from the latest issue of Instaurare Magazine, the official magazine of Christendom College. Read more from Instaurare here!
The deeper Sproule dove, the more he began to be drawn to the historical figure of Jesus, though he wasn’t certain about God’s existence or Jesus’ divinity.
“My next big shift,” Sproule says, “was realizing Jesus was a historical person. I didn’t think He was divine yet, but He must be the greatest man who ever lived, because He did all this. He had created this moral system, which is perfect. And I admired him more than anybody else.”
His research took him closer and closer to Christianity, and he found himself repeatedly circling Catholicism.
“It seemed to me that the Catholic Church was the living church,” Sproule says. “I started focusing more on studying it, then I started praying the Rosary, too, every day. I turned 18 around that time, and by then, I definitely had faith.”
Eventually, Sproule had compiled his entire summer of research into a decision: he would attend a Catholic Mass. As soon as he received his driver’s license, he snuck out early to attend the earliest Mass he could find. He was nervous and unsure of what would happen. As it turned out, this experience would be the final clincher for Sproule.
“I didn’t really know what the Mass was, really,” Sproule says. “I stayed in the back and watched. But I felt the presence of God there. And I felt, yeah, I want this.”
Sproule found the priest afterward and told him he wanted to be Catholic. The priest expressed support—and then surprise when Sproule introduced himself. That very parish had been founded by a priest named Father Sproule. Sam Sproule had never met or heard of anyone with his last name outside of his family. And yet, here he was, in a church that had been started by a Sproule.
Bolstered by this encouragement, Sproule completed RCIA and entered into the Catholic Church the following Easter Saturday.
But this whirlwind was far from over. After graduating high school, Sproule entered the United States Military Academy at West Point—a highly difficult accomplishment. However, his time there was marked by moral questions, and he felt called to leave. But where to go?
Sproule during his time at West Point.
Sproule decided he wanted to attend a Catholic college. Returning to his tried-and-true method that started his journey—intensive research—Sproule turned once again to his computer.
“I found the Newman Guide. I looked at every single school in the Newman Guide and compared all of them, side by side,” Sproule says.
He spent weeks on this project, whittling his list down until there was one left: Christendom College.
Sproule recalls, “I said to myself, I think Christendom’s the best one. So that is the only one I’m going to apply to—because I want the best one.”
He was accepted and moved on to the next major change in his life.
Sproule describes his first semester at Christendom as a bit of an adjustment. He was navigating a new place, academic challenges, spiritual growth, and new friendships, and it all took a bit to settle in. Despite this, he quickly became enamored with the academics. After originally learning Catholicism only through internet research, debates, and YouTube videos, he relished the chance to attend classes about the questions he had been asking all his life.
“Christendom really helped me with looking at the faith in a true way, instead of a distorted way,” Sproule says. “It was really helpful for me. I had a lot of growth in that time.”
One thing he especially credits as helping him in his Christendom life is joining the Legion of Mary.
Sproule and fellow classmates join the Shield of Roses group each Saturday in praying outside an abortion clinic in Northern Virginia.
Christendom’s website describes the Legion of Mary as a “worldwide organization of the lay apostolate founded nearly a hundred years ago. Students in the Legion seek to take the light of faith which they receive at Christendom to the wider world. They do so by accepting a routine of prayer and apostolic works, thus deepening their faith while bringing it to others.”
This club helped deepen his faith and commitment and gave him more ways to do what he was realizing he truly loved: evangelization. He became president of the Legion of Mary, showcasing his skills in leadership, discipline, and evangelization. He also became the president of the Shield of Roses pro-life club: gathering and leading students to pray peacefully outside abortion centers on Saturday mornings. These ventures sharpened a desire in Sproule to do difficult things for Christ.
He set challenges for himself to accomplish. He took up long-distance running and ran a 100-mile ultramarathon in a desire to do hard things. He wrote an article in the student-run magazine Metanoia (metanoia-magazine.com/salt-to-the-strangers/) about how he dedicated his summer to talking to strangers. Bearing a sign that read “Free Listening”, Sproule would invite strangers to talk to him, connect, and tell their story to a friendly and intentional ear. He twice attended the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., listening to the stories of marchers and then sharing his own. He has talked to hundreds of strangers since then. He walked part of the Camino with a Christendom group and talked to as many people as he could.
“I tried to talk to 20 people a day,” Sproule recalls. “I did that for the whole Camino trip. Sometimes it would take me five hours to do that. So, I adjusted a rule. If I hit four hours a day talking to people, I would count that as good.”
Sproule found amazing meaning in listening to strangers. He realized that so many people in life felt unheard, uncared for, and unloved. By taking the time to give a friendly ear, even just for a moment, he found that the connection he would make with the person was remarkable.
This realization is what drives him forward in his goal to evangelize. As he grew up secular, he feels called to reach out to people in similar settings. He continues:
“I’ve talked to so many strangers, and I saw how they could be helped by this stuff and how much people are missing in their lives, and how easily they could be helped if you could give them the right things. People just need the chance.”
Sproule joined fellow classmates and Christendom staff on a mission trip to Honduras in Spring 2025.
With Sproule’s dedication to connection, evangelization, and listening, it’s no surprise that he plans to pursue missionary work after graduation, having been accepted as a FOCUS missionary, where he will travel to different college campuses and continue in his mission to listen, to serve, and to evangelize.
He sees his liberal arts education as an invaluable tool in this new journey, saying:
“I’ve come to value the education so much more, even now. I can look back and see how much I gain by it and connecting all these disciplines together—it’s just so huge.”
Sproule made an indelible mark on campus as a student, friend, and leader. He graduated on May 17, 2025, with a major in Philosophy, eager to begin his work with FOCUS—and to keep listening to the stories of those around him, as well as to the voice that has been guiding him all his life.
His unexpected journey remains one covered in providence. From a young man searching for truth, to a military academy soldier, to a missionary for Christ, Samuel Sproule remains ready and willing for whatever lies ahead.
Written by Lianna Youngman.
Read more from Instaurare Magazine here.